{
  "id": 12281457,
  "title": "Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22% through August",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-06T02:32:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/20261006/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Seoul experienced a significant boost in foreign tourism through August, with visitor numbers up by 22% compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the city government. The city welcomed a record-breaking 11.56 million foreign tourists from January to August, marking a 21.6% increase year-on-year. Notably, the credit card spending of these visitors surged by a substantial 59.9% on-year to reach 7.78 trillion won, equivalent to $5.8 billion.\n\nIn August alone, 1.72 million foreigners visited Seoul, representing a 23.3% rise from the 1.4 million visitors recorded a year earlier. The top source countries for these tourists were China, Japan, and Taiwan, accounting for 66.4% of all foreign visitors to the capital in August. China led the pack with 636,000 visitors, representing 36.9% of the total, followed by Japan with 322,000 visitors (18.6%) and Taiwan with 188,000 visitors (10.9%).\n\nAmong the sectors that benefited most from foreign tourist spending, shopping took the lead at 46.6%, closely followed by medical and wellness services at 23.8%, and food and beverage at 13.2%.",
  "summary": "The number of foreign visitors to Seoul in the first eight months of this year increased by about 22 percent from the same period last year, while their credit card spending in the city surged nearly 60 percent, data from the city government showed Tuesday. Seoul attracted a record 11.56 million foreign tourists in the January-August period, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier, the government…",
  "key_points": [
    "Foreign visitor numbers to Seoul up 22% through August",
    "Record 11.56 million foreign tourists from Jan-Aug",
    "Credit card spending by visitors surged 59.9% year-on"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The surge in foreign visitors to Seoul and their increased spending is likely to boost local businesses, particularly in shopping, medical services, and food and beverage sectors, with China, Japan, and Taiwan driving the growth.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Foreign visitors to Seoul up 22% through August",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/foreign-visitors-to-seoul-up-22-through-august-12284923",
        "published": "2026-10-06T02:52:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}